Scott Myers

How I Write A Script, Part 4: Character Development

People asked me how I write a script, so here we go with Part 4. This is a follow up to Part 1, which focused on story concept, Part 2, where we looked at brainstorming, and Part 3, which talked about research. PART 4: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT I’m compartmentalizing my

“A sadder but wiser M. Night Shyamalan”

Following up on our previous thread, here’s an LA Times article from today, ostensibly a promo piece on his new movie The Happening, but actually more of a reflection on the young writer-director’s career. A quote from Shyamalan: “My hope for the movie was a personal one,

Writer’s rooms

Interesting article in today’s NY Times called “Focus, People! There’s Work to Do”. Here’s the lede: “Writers’ rooms are as idiosyncratic as writers themselves: a system of organization has to be devised to keep track of plots and characters. Some writers prefer lots of stress relievers to

Poetry and screenwriting

Those of you who have taken any of my classes know how I’ve grown to appreciate poetry during the last several years. I also think it is applicable to screenwriting. For example, since we only have 120 pages to tell our story, screenwriters have to learn how to create

Writing a script you want to direct — Part 1

In the last Open Forum, Shea posted this comment. Here’s the key question: “What are your thoughts on writing a script to shoot yourself? How would you approach the process of writing the script, would it be the same?” I thought this would be a great opportunity to contact

How I Write A Script, Part 3: Research

People asked me how I write a script, so here we go with Part 3. This is a follow up to Part 1 where we considered the importance of story concept in the script-writing process, and Part 2 where we discussed brainstorming. PART 3: RESEARCH This generally goes hand-

Bitter Truth #4

“Every single time you eat at a restaurant, you will never know for sure that your server didn’t spit in your food.” © 2008 Kurt Brown & Scott Myers Comment Archive

Friday movie reviews

You Don’t Mess With the Zohan Los Angeles Times New York Times Daily Variety Hollywood Reporter Kung Fu Panda Los Angeles Times New York Times Daily Variety Hollywood Reporter The Go-Getter Los Angeles Times New York Times When Did You Last See Your Father? Los Angeles Times New

Inside the Actors Studio: Jodie Foster, Part 1

justwrite7 made a comment about how insightful actress Jodie Foster is when she talks about the craft of filmmaking. Here is Part 1 of her interview from the great TV series, “Inside the Actors Studio.” If you follow the link to YouTube, you’ll be able to see Parts 2-

Spec script sale: “Roundtable”

Dreamworks buys action-comedy spec written by “Lost” writer Brian K. Vaughan for $650K against $1M. The premise: “Merlin assembles a bunch of modern-day knights to battle a resurrected ancient evil, only to discover that today’s knights are all washed-up athletes, cowardly scientists or Academy Award-winning

How I Write A Script, Part 2: Brainstorming

Another installment in the 10-part series “How I Write A Script.” PART 2: BRAINSTORMING Once I find a story concept I think might make a good movie, I create a Word file in my computer and start brainstorming ideas into that file. I can not emphasize enough how important

814,780 words

That’s how many words Shakespeare wrote when you total up all his known plays. I just did a word count on one of my original scripts “Tully’s War”. Came out to 17,877 words. I divided that into Shakespeare’s total. The result is that Shakespeare wrote the

J.K. Rowling’s Harvard commencement address

That’s right, the renowned author of Harry Potter fame had these words of wisdom for Harvard graduates: “The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are ever after secure in your ability to survive,” Rowling said. “You will never truly know yourself, or

Pitch Sale: Disney buys “Hexum”

A seven-figure deal for screenwriter David Arata. Premise is under wraps, but we know this much: Details of the plot have not been disclosed, but it is known to feature a worst-case scenario analyst by the name of Hexum working for the government. The hope is that the

How I Write A Script, Part 1: Story Concept

“How do you write a script?” I get asked that question a lot. So here it is, “The Not So Famous Scott Myers Approach To Writing A Screenplay From Concept To Fade Out: A 10-Part Series.” PART 1: STORY CONCEPT It all starts with the concept. And every day,

Open forum

Anything you want to discuss re screenwriting, here’s your chance. Comment Archive

Screenwriting 101 — Ron Bass

“Everything I write is in three acts, and I actually start with three pieces of paper. I have some notion of where each act begins and ends before I get to this stage. I know my people and I know roughly about how many scenes each act should be. I

Characters: Writing for actors

If you write a screenplay that manages to make it past the first line of defense — story analysts — then the next set of Hollywood ‘gatekeepers’ — agents — then the third set of critical eyeballs — producers — eventually if you’re lucky, your precious script will alight into the hands of an actor.

X-Files: I Want to Believe

Okay, I confess — I was an X-Files junkie and in particular the episodes that spun the far-flung web of conspiratorial intrigue, everything from alien abductions to black oil, Cigarette Smoking Man (a failed novelist!) to Krychek and, of course, two great Protagonists: Fox Mulder, played by David Duchovny,

“Word Into Image”: William Goldman on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

There was a wonderful series of videos from 1984 called “Word Into Image”. Here is an excerpt with arguably the dean of contemporary screenwriters William Goldman talking about the movie he wrote Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. By the way, the screenplay is the very first “spec script” as

Spec script sale: “The Harvard Zombie Massacre”

First-time screenwriters Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit sell The Harvard Zombie Massacre to producer Warren Zide. The premise: Story centers on a scenario in which Harvard is overrun by the undead and America’s most brilliant minds fend off America’s most brilliant zombies. Hollywood has had a long

On Writing

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” — Ray Bradbury

WGA.org: Interviews with screenwriters

A good way to gain insight into the craft of screenwriting is to read or listen to interviews with working professionals. Thanks to the Web, you don’t have to live in LA or NYC to have access to such inside information. For instance, every week or so, at the

Master Plots — Part 3

Previously we considered 20 ‘master’ plots, here and here as articulated by author Ronald Tobias. Now let me throw into the mix this saying that’s been bouncing around writing circles for heaven knows how long: There are only two kinds of stories: “Someone goes on a journey” and “A

Hollywood Tales

“I couldn’t believe we were willing to go out and shoot the script that we were gonna shoot. I believe they felt the script worked because I was in it, and Anthony Quinn was in it, and Madeline Stowe was in it, and Tony Scott had two hits. But